DURHAM, N.H. -- The 20th-ranked University of New Hampshire men's hockey team is set for its final two-game home series of the 2013-14 season as it welcomes the 19th-ranked University of Vermont to the Whittemore Center. Friday's game is set for 7:30 p.m. and will be aired live on WBIN-TV and FOX College Sports Atlantic while Saturday's puck drop is set for 7 p.m. Saturday is also the Hockey East Skating Strides Against Breast Cancer Game.

Scouting Vermont: The Catamounts come into the weekend with an overall record of 13-9-3 and a Hockey East mark of 5-7-0. Most recently, Vermont split a pair of games at Boston University (Fri., Jan. 24/Sat., Jan. 25). On Friday, the Terriers took the game by a score of 4-2 while on Saturday, the Catamounts bounced back for a 6-2 win.

Senior Chris McCarthy leads the squad with 27 points, stemming from 13 goals and 14 assists. Freshman Mario Puskarich is second on the team with 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points. He leads the team in power play goals (5). Blueliner Michael Paliotta has lit the lamp three times and dished out a team-high 16 assists for 19 points on the year.

Rookie netminder Mike Santaguida has started all 15 games he has played and comes in with a record of 8-5-2 with one shutout. He has a goals against average of 2.32 and a save percentage of .917. Sophomore Brody Hoffman comes in with a record of 5-4-1 having started each of the 10 games he has played. He has a goals against average of 2.10 and a save percentage of .921.

Warrior of the Week: Senior Kevin Goumas earned the Warrior Player of the Week as named by Hockey East on Monday, Feb. 3. Goumas recorded five points (2g, 3a) on the weekend as the Wildcats swept 14th ranked Notre Dame. In Friday's 4-2 win, Goumas assisted on the first goal of the game for UNH and scored the game winner in the third period on a power play with under five minutes left in period. He notched his second assist of the night on the empty net goal late in the third. On Saturday, Goumas setup the game winning goal for the 'Cats that came during shorthanded play in the second period. He capped off the night with an empty net goal with 54 seconds left in the game. He finished the weekend with a +3 rating.

Team of the Week: The Wildcats also earned another Hockey East accolade in Monday's weekly awards announcement; Hockey East Team of the Week. The 'Cats completed a weekend sweep of No. 14 Notre Dame with 4-2 win on Friday, Jan. 31 and a 5-2 victory on Saturday, Feb. 1. It was the first conference sweep for UNH since downing now No. 11 Northeastern in a home-and-home series (Nov. 15/16).

Down One, One Up: Matt Willows scored the third shorthanded goal of the year for the Wildcats in Saturday's (Feb. 1) win over No. 14 Notre Dame. Grayson Downing recorded the first of the year in a 9-0 win over UMass (Nov. 9) while Jeff Silengo scored one the following weekend at Northeastern (Nov. 15).

150 and Counting: Senior Dalton Speelman played his 150th career game on Saturday, Feb. 1. In the game he tallied his fifth goal of the year and 30th of his career.

Career-Night: Blueliner Brett Pesce earned a new career-high mark for points in a game in Friday night's 4-2 win over Notre Dame (Jan. 31) with three. He scored UNH's first goal on a power play and assisted on the next two, including Kevin Goumas' game-winning power play goal.

The Great Wall of Casey: Wildcat netminder Casey DeSmith made a season-high 38 saves on 40 shots faced in Friday's 4-2 win over Notre Dame (Jan. 31). The following night, he made 32 saves in a 5-2 victory over the Fighting Irish (Saturday, Feb. 1). It is the 11th time he has made 30-plus saves this season and his fifth game in a row of that feat.

One of '603 Reasons':The Eagle Tribune (North Andover, Mass.) recently published an article saying that UNH hockey is one of '603 Reasons' people say New Hampshire is special. The piece talks about the traidition of hockey at UNH and the history.

It's a Block Party: UNH blocked 22 shots in Saturday's (Jan. 25) game at the University of Maine. It was the sixth time this season the 'Cats have blocked 20 or more shots. The season high of 27 came against Northeastern (Nov. 15).

The Sorkin-Goumas Connection: Kevin Goumas and Nick Sorkin have teamed up on 14 goals this season. Sorkin has assisted Goumas on five while Goumas has assisted Sorkin nine times.

Spreading the Wealth: On the season, a total of 21 different skaters have tallied at least one point. Collin MacDonald was the most recent 'Cat to record a point with his first goal of the season in a 5-2 win over Notre Dame on Saturday (Feb. 1).

Willows' Progression: Junior forward Matt Willows is having a career year with 13 goals and 13 assists for 26 points through his first 30 games. As a freshman, he played in 20 games and recorded a total of three assits on the year. Last year, he played in 29 games and had eight goals and five assists for 13 points.

Wins vs. Losses: In the 16 wins for the Wildcats this season, they have tallied 69 goals and 125 assists and are averaging 4.31 goals per game. The team has allowed just 24 goals in the 16 games, making 450 saves on 474 shots faced (.949 save percentage). On special teams, the team has only relinquished five power play goals to opponents.

In the 13 losses, UNH has scored 25 goals and 45 assists, averaging 1.92 goals per game. They've allowed 50 goals and made saves on 317 shots of 362 faced (.876 save percentage). They've also allowed nine power play goals in those games.

Moving Up the Ranks: Senior forward Kevin Goumas is in 44th on the all-time scoring list. His 129 career points (37g, 92a) have him just one point shy of Preston Callander who is in 43rd with 130 points (62g, 68a).

van Riemsdyk on the Ballot: Junior blueliner Trevor van Riemsdyk is on the ballot for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award Fan Voting. By logging onto www.hobeybaker.com, fans can vote once every 24 hours. The Hobey Baker Memorial Award is college hockey's most prestigious award earned by the nation's most outstanding player.

--The PairWise Ranking is a system which attempts to mimic the method used by the NCAA Selection Committee to determine participants for the NCAA Division I men's hockey tournament. The PWR compares all teams by these criteria: record against common opponents, head-to-head competition, and the RPI. (USCHO.com).

Others receiving votes: University of Minnesota Duluth, 36; University of North Dakota, 25; University of New Hampshire, 10; University of Notre Dame, 10; Mercyhurst University, 1; Minnesota State University, 1; University of Vermont, 1.

'Cats in the Olympics: With former Wildcat James van Riemsdyk heading to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, he became the sixth Wildcat in program history to play for his country at the Olympics. Here is a list of those Wildcats:
Rube Bjorkman 1948-52 USA
Bob Miller 1976 USA
Steve Leach 1988 USA
Adrien Plavsic 1992 Canada
Jeff Lazaro 1994 USA
James van Riemsdyk 2014 USA

All in the Family: Sophomore defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk is the younger brother of former Wildcat and current Toronto Maple Leaf forward James van Riemsdyk. Associate Head Coach Jim Tortorella is the brother of Vancouver head coach John Tortorella.

'Cats Selected in the NHL Draft: Two current UNH players have been selected in the National Hockey League draft. Eric Knodel (Toronto) and Brett Pesce (Carolina) have been drafted. Jay Camper is the younger brother of Bruins' prospect and former Miami University star Carter Camper.

Listen on the Internet: UNHWildcats.com via Stretch Internet Broadcast will carry all of the UNH men's ice hockey action again this season. If you can not attend Wildcat hockey, you can still tune into the game from anywhere you can gain access to the internet. Fans can get to the UNH men's ice hockey broadcast site by going to the men's hockey schedule page at www.unhwildcats.com.

Granite State Connection: The Wildcat hockey team features three players from New Hampshire with Collin Bourque (Goffstown) Ryan Randall (Durham) and Casey DeSmith (Rochester) all hailing from the Granite State.

'Cats Picked Third in Preseason Coaches' Poll: The University of New Hampshire men's hockey team was voted third, along with Notre Dame, in the Hockey East Association Preseason Coaches' Poll, which was announced Tuesday during the league's annual media day at Legends Restaurant in the TD Garden.The Wildcats, who racked up 84 points, have been picked third in two out of the last three preseason polls and finished in the top three in Hockey East five of the last seven seasons, including three regular-season titles.